Baltimore - Attorney General J. Joseph Curran, Jr., announced
today that a Geriatric Nursing Assistant pleaded guilty to one count of
abuse of a vulnerable adult for attacking a severely disabled and wheelchair-bound
resident of a Baltimore City nursing home.

Loretta Boykins, 35, of the 1200 block of Whitelock Street in Baltimore,
was working at Villa St. Michael Nursing and Rehabilitation Center on
January 12, 2001, when another employee of the nursing home observed her
hit the female resident in the face multiple times.

Judge Joseph P. McCurdy of the Baltimore City Circuit Court sentenced
Boykins to a two-year suspended sentence and placed her on supervised
probation for two years. Boykins is also prohibited from working without
supervision in the hands-on care field during the probationary period.

The case was prosecuted by the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit of the Maryland
Attorney GeneralŐs Office, which has the authority to investigate and
prosecute patient abuse cases occurring in the State of Maryland.